Norah Jones is one of those great music success stories - blessed with talent (and looks), seriously approach to her art, and knowing of her strong points. All of these factors, and more, come together in this live show.
Recorded at the House Of Blues in October 2002, Norah and "The Very Handsome Band" don't stray too far from what worked so successfully on her incredible debut. Most of the songs from "Come Away With Me" are presented, along with 4 tunes added for this show.
This is a very quiet show, which allows the focus to remain on Norah's gorgeous singing and wonderful piano playing. Favorites like "Don't Know Why", "Nightingale" and "One Flight Down" sound great in a live setting (as if there would be any doubt). If you are a fan of the album, you'll truly enjoy this show.
Of the four new tunes, Norah is at her vocal best on "Bessie Smith", a wonderful blues tune with great drum work by Andrew Burger. "Something Is Calling You" is a beautiful song as well, with an excellent bass line. And the version of "Tennessee Waltz" which Norah uses for an encore sounds much sadder than many versions of this song, but works wonderfully.
This is truly step 2 in the making of a major star - with a new album (supposedly) coming this fall, this DVD makes a nice in-between step for those of us that have been captured by Norah's talent. You won't have a moment's disappointment watching this show, but definitely catch her live this summer if you have a chance.


Good DVD, but absolutely terrific performance   February 28, 2003
Joseph P. Menta, Jr. (Philadelphia, PA USA)
43 out of 44 found this review helpful

A fun, sweet Norah Jones performance coupled with out-of-this-world audio quality makes this modestly priced DVD a must buy. You get to hear most of the songs from Norah's "Come Away With Me" CD, plus a couple of other good pieces. Extras include the "Come Away With Me" music video and an encore song from the main concert this DVD chronicled. Actually it would have been better if the main concert just flowed right into the encore, as I'm sure it did in real life. Here, Norah says good night, the credits roll, the picture fades to black, and we're sent back to the main menu. Then, when you click on the "encore" icon in the extras section, we're right back in New Orleans with Norah back on stage performing "Tennessee Waltz" (a great rendition, by the way). Yes, it's a small point, but that extra clicking around was needless and broke the flow of the performance a bit. Also, some of the lighting was harsh (Norah has what looks like a blue electrical sheen on her face all through one song, which was kind of annoying), and with an excessive amount of fading from one shot to another, the direction drew attention to itself and came off as distracting. But in the end all these things qualify as quibbles, as the musical performance itself- aided by the DVD's excellent sound- is subtle, nuanced, sensual, and very sweet. Norah is the real deal, a fact that comes through clearly on this DVD.


Great companion to the album   March 2, 2003
Magneto (London, UK)
31 out of 32 found this review helpful

If you already have Norah's fantastic debut album, then this DVD should be next on your shopping list. Recorded at the House of Blues, Norah (and her band) gives an excellent and intimate performance. Fans will rejoice with the inclusion of some non-album tracks, including Comes love, Bessie Smith, Something is calling you, What am I to you?, and the concert encore Tennessee waltz. Along with these you get many of her much loved songs including the likes of the superlative Don't know why, Come away with me, One flight down and many more. It's a shame songs like Shoot the moon and Turn me on aren't here, but hey...you can't have everything.

Picture quality is excellent - very crisp, vibrant colors, and full screen. Sound is equally impressive. Unfortunately the DVD is a little low on extras; you get the aforementioned concert encore (though why this is separated away from the main concert is beyond me) and one music video, for "Come away with me". Why didn't they include some of her other videos though?.

Nevertheless, and minor criticisms aside, this is a great first DVD of one of the most promising new artists in years. If you love her debut album then there's no reason why you shouldn't love this as well.


Very good performance   February 27, 2003
23 out of 25 found this review helpful

If you like Norah Jones, you will love this DVD. There are several songs on this DVD that aren't on her latest CD, such as Comes Love, Something is Calling You, What Am I to You, Bessie Smith, and Tennessee Waltz (which is only available from the Bonus Features section). The DVD has Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2 channel sound as the options. The sound and video are very good, about the same quality as some of the better MTV Unplugged DVD's (excluding the Eagles Hell Freezes Over). The video is full screen and is very sharp and clear, with a lot of close-ups of Norah. My only complaint is that's it's rather short at only 67 minutes, I wish she would've added a few more tracks from some of her other live performances.